FROM- The Textile Museum Washington DC, exhibition features a selection of the Central Asian ikats given to The Textile Museum by collector Murad Megalli, on view for the first time ever.
On my must do list in Istanbul was source out the best Ikat shop in the Grand Bazaar; over the years, I’ve collected pages of Ikat designs, the fabric is just beginning to reach retail stores here…one needed to travel or if lucky, find vintage ikat or suzani fabric in chic antique stores; needless to say, almost impossible to locate here. The DC Textile Museum is also on my list prior to the close in March 2011. I brought home over 10 yards of Ikat fabric, rolled into my suitcase.
From the museum description: In the streets of Central Asian oasis towns, a man’s clothing defined his status in society and proclaimed his wealth. In the home, the place of honor was filled with the richest ikat textiles. Many family ceremonies were celebrated in surroundings made beautiful with textiles. Ikats display Central Asian artists’ and weavers’ attention to the harmony between design, color and execution in order to create their master works.
Nineteenth-century Central Asian ikats are distinguished by bold, original designs using vibrant colors and are prized for their great beauty. These textiles derive their name from the technique used to create them, wherein bundled warps—and sometimes also the wefts—are bound and dyed several times before weaving, resulting in eye-catching designs in dazzling colors. Today the influence of ikat designs can be seen in contemporary fashion and home décor.
Ikat is explored through a number of different lenses, including; the social importance of garments made from ikat fabric, the placement of ikat designs in the larger Central Asian context, the relationship between different ikat fabrics, the designs and construction of the garments, and the revitalization of the technique in Uzbekistan.
